The fourth cycle of the International Holcim Awards broke a number of records: there were more submissions – over 6,100 projects were entered in the competition, 2,514 of which met all the formal criteria. And there were more winners – the five regional juries selected 62 regional prize winners. 15 of them won an Award and are now qualified for the global competition in 2015; 21 won an Acknowledgement prize, and 25 a “Next Generation” prize. In addition, for the first time a project was dis-tinguished with an Honorable Mention. The winners received their accolades at five memorable ceremonies held in Moscow, Toronto, Medellín, Beirut, and Jakarta. The following pages sum up these events, conducted in close collaboration with the local Holcim Group companies, and introduce the prize winners. Our cover image shows the happy winners of the Holcim Awards Gold for North America. Fo

unda

tions

17 Dec

emb

er 2

01

4

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

2

Behind the scenes

When the winners are handed their prizes on the stage, it all seems unencumbered and exhilarating. But behind each event there is an enormous amount of work – most of which is done by the local Holcim Group companies.

The regional ceremonies of the Holcim Awards are among the most important events of the Holcim Foundation – and the most impressive: Hundreds of guests, competition participants, and representatives of government, business, the construction industry, and NGOs gather to attend festive prize ceremonies held in each of the five global regions. These ceremonies take place at a new location in each cycle – and must be organized from scratch.

acts for the ceremony must be found. All the guests must be transferred from the airport to the hotel and after the

event back to the airport, and during their stay they must be taken care of around the clock. Organizing a full- day program for the day following the ceremony requires even more effort. Here the many guests visit built examples of sustainable construction as well as other local sites of interest and thereby gain insight into the host city.

An ideal platformThe local employees are dedicated to the Holcim Awards, partially because the events offer an ideal platform for maintaining good relations with their most important stakeholders. The Holcim Awards prominently place sus-tainable construction and thus Holcim in the local spotlight. How successfully this is done is reflected at the media briefing held on the morning after each ceremony; dozens of journalists attend these briefings. And even greater evi-dence of the ripple effect of the Holcim Awards is the flood of printed and electronic reports published following the ceremonies – which always portray Holcim in its proactive role.

Plenty of work on the spotThe events are conducted by the Holcim Foundation in close collaboration with the local Holcim Group companies: The event venue, hotels, and restaurants must be secured. Suitable speakers, a good moderator, and exciting show

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

3

A unique balance – also of genderIn a way, the Holcim Awards are a preview into the future of sustainable construction: Trends are revealed very early in this competition. The reasons behind this are that the Holcim Awards span the globe and bring together the best of each region, that the innovative capacity of young professionals is specifically tapped in the “Next Generation” category, and that the competition honors projects, not finished works. Thus the competition is always a step ahead of reality; many of the prize-winning projects will become part of the built environment only years later.

In this context, the question of who receives the Holcim Awards is especially interesting – because these professionals are the ones who are shaping the future of sustainable con-struction today. During the current cycle, it was striking to see how many women took to the stage to receive prizes – at every level, in every category and in all regions. No other competition of this kind honors as many women as the Holcim Awards.

After the Awards is before the Awards!

The story of the regional ceremonies has ended – but the book of the fourth cycle of the Holcim Awards also contains chapters not yet written. From the 15 regional Awards winners, the laureates of the Global Holcim Awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze will be identified in 2015.

The regional ceremonies were highlights of the fourth cycle of the Holcim Awards – but by no means were they the final curtain call. The three main winners in each region are automatically qualified to compete for the Global Holcim Awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze – argu- ably the world’s most coveted prizes in the field of sustainable construction. These 15 prize winners are now called upon to present their projects in more detail again and in particular to show the progress that they have

Global Holcim Awards jury members:

Mohsen Mostafavi (Head), Dean, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA.Marc Angélil*, Senior Dean, Chair of Architecture and Design, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland.Alejandro Aravena*, Executive Director, Elemental, Chile.Maria Atkinson*, Sustainability Business Advisor; Founding CEO, Green Building Council of Australia, Australia.Meisa Batayneh Maani, Founder and Principal Architect, maisam architects and engineers, Jordan.Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International, Ecuador.Matthias Schuler, Professor of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA; and Founder, Transsolar Energietechnik, Germany.Rolf Soiron*, Chairman, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Switzerland.

*Members of the Board of the Holcim Foundation

made since they were entered in the regional competition. A dedicated jury has been selected to choose the global winners. In March 2015 the members will convene in Zurich to make their decision. The locations of the Global Awards hand-over events are not yet known as these ceremonies are con- ducted where the respective project is located.

Lights, camera, action!To introduce the people behind the projects, the Holcim Foundation featured “Winner Video Statements” in this cycle for the first time: A team of journalists with camera was present at each ceremony to record spontaneous statements by the prize winners about their projects and sustainable construction. The clips can be viewed at www.holcimawards.org/videos. They give an authentic impression of the atmosphere at the ceremonies – and of the proponents of sustainable construction.

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

4

Russian grandeur

Ceremony for Europe in Moscow, Russia

The series of regional Holcim Awards ceremonies opened in Moscow. Only a few of the foreign guests already knew the Russian capital, so they were especially delighted by the warm recep-tion they received. At the ceremony in the stylish ambience of the Theatre of Dramatic Art and attended by 230 guests, a total of 12 prizes in all catego-ries were awarded. An Honorable Men-tion was presented for the first time in the history of the Holcim Awards. On the second day of the event the guests became better acquainted with this city of over 12 million people. The event closed with a dinner on the Moskva River.

The winners of the Holcim Awards for Europe (from left): Luis Basabe Montalvo, Luis Palacios Labrador (Bronze),

Gilles Delalex (Silver), Francisco Leiva, Lucia Pierro, Marco Scarpinato (Gold), Enrique Arenas Laorga (Bronze).

Acrobats of the Moscow State Circus enthused the guests with their skills during the ceremony. “Sustainability is part of our DNA at Holcim”: CEO Bernard

…to Pashkov Palace for dinner with a view of the

Kremlin.

Russian grandeuer: From the ceremony at the

Theatre of Dramatic Art…

Holcim Awards Gold Freshwater ecological reserve and remediation, Saline Joniche, ItalyMain authors: Francisco Leiva, Grupo aranea, Alicante, Spain; Marco Scarpinato, AutonomeForme, Palermo, Italy

Holcim Awards Silver Low-cost flexible university building, Paris, FranceAuthors: Gilles Delalex, Yves Moreau, Thomas Wessel-Cessieux, Muoto, Paris, France

Holcim Awards Bronze Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, AustriaMain authors: Enrique Arenas Laorga, Luis Basabe Montalvo, Luis Palacios Labrador, Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Madrid, Spain

Holcim Awards Honorable MentionEnergy-efficient office building, Holderbank, Switzerland Author: Christian Kerez, Christian Kerez AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Acknowledgement prizeConstruction materials recycling and logistics hub, Brussels, BelgiumMain authors: Ana Castillo, Lieven De Groote, Jan Terwecoren, Annekatrien Verdickt, TETRA architecten, Brussels, Belgium

Acknowledgement prizeReusable aggregates requiring no binding agent, Stuttgart, GermanyAuthors: Karola Dierichs, Achim Menges, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Computational Design, Stuttgart, Germany

Main category Holcim Awards 2014 Europe

Prizes for the “Next Generation”: Projects and

visions by teams from six countries were awarded.

Fontana addressed the audience and the media.

Excursions to places of interest in the city and

finally a trip on the Moskva River.

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

6

A celebration with friends

Ceremony for North America in Toronto, Canada

Although the Holcim Awards had never been presented in Toronto, the ceremony at Evergreen Brick Works (images above) was almost like a homecoming: The adaptive reuse project for this former factory won an Acknowledgement prize in the second Holcim Awards com-petition. Within this rustic industrial ambience, the nearly 250 guests en-joyed an event that was perfect in every way. The excursions on the second day took the guests to places like Toronto’s Distillery District, Waterfront Project, and to lunch at a dizzying height atop the CN Tower. For sustainable construc-tion, the sky is the limit – and that applied especially to this ceremony!

The winners of the Holcim Awards for North America (from left): David Benjamin (Bronze),

Caitlin Gucker-Kanter Taylor, Amy Mielke, (Gold), Kai-Uwe Bergmann and Matthijs Bouw (Silver).

The Zero Gravity Circus from Toronto inspired

the guests with a powerful performance.

Guests of the Holcim Awards ceremony visited

the revitalized Waterfront area of Toronto as

The spaces between the old kilns of Evergreen

Brick Works were ideal for poster exhibitions.

Sustainable construction: Getting to know the

Distillery District.

well as other points of interest in the context of

sustainable construction.

Guests enjoyed lunch with 360 degrees of view

from atop the Toronto CN Tower.

Holcim Awards Gold Water absorptive surface and subterranean basin, Las Vegas, USAMain authors: Amy Mielke, Caitlin Gucker-Kanter Taylor, Water Pore Partnership, New York, USA

Holcim Awards Silver Urban flood protection infrastructure, New York, USAAuthors: A consortium led by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, New York, USA

Holcim Awards Bronze Zero carbon emissions compostable structure, New York, USAMain Author: David Benjamin, The Living, New York, USA

Acknowledgement prizeAffordable residential urban infill development, Boston, USAMain authors: Sheila Kennedy, Frano Violich, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Boston, USA

Acknowledgement prizeUniversity building renovation and extension, Toronto, CanadaMain Authors: Nader Tehrani, Katherine Faulkner, NADAAA, Boston, USA

Acknowledgement prizeDigital tool for urban design and water-use planning, Los Angeles, USAAuthors: Peter Arnold, Hadley Arnold, Woodbury University, Arid Lands Institute, Burbank, USA

Acknowledgement prizePublic park and interactive wall for urban revival, Seattle, USAAuthors: Etienne Feher, Paul Azzopardi, Noé Basch, ABF-lab architects-engineers, Paris, France

Main category Holcim Awards 2014 North America

Six “Next Generation” winning teams from

Canada, the USA and Singapore.

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

8

Evident impact

Ceremony for Latin America in Medellín, Colombia

Latin American zest for life energized this regional Holcim Awards ceremony: In Medellín the 230 invited guests were inspired by the excellent winning projects and by the overall program, brimming with color and passion. The significance of sustainable construction is particularly evident in the Colombian metropolis – not only for architects and the construction industry, but also for the lives of the citizens. The excursions on the second day made this all the more tangible. They led also to Comuna 13, one of the most densely-populated barrios in the city. “Urban integration of an informal area” was the topic of the successful upgrade of this district.

The winners of the Holcim Awards for Latin America (from left): Julio Amezcua and Francisco Pardo (Bronze);

Luis Tombé, Juan Calle and Mario Camargo (Gold), Izbeth Mendoza and Román Cordero (Silver).

Outdoor dinner with Latin American shows at

Orquideorama, the botanical garden of Medellín.

From (Holcim Awards 2008 gold-

winning) project to reality: Author

Gustavo Restrepo (left) explaining

how sustainable construction has

improved Comuna13 and the quality

of life for this neighborhood in

Medellín.

Guests of the Holcim Awards ceremony arriving at Parque Explora, an educational center for

inhabitants of all ages in downtown Medellín.

“Silent painter” Byron González delighted the

guests with his action painting.

“Next Generation” prizes for projects in

Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Colorful Colombia: Lunch break during the excur-

sions to various places of interest in Medellín.

Holcim Awards Gold Water reservoirs as public park, Medellín, ColombiaAuthors: Mario Fernando Camargo Gómez, Luis Orlando Tombé Hurtado, Colectivo720, Cali, Colombia

Holcim Awards Silver Low-impact timber rainforest center, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, Costa RicaMain author: Román Jesús Cordero Tovar, PLUG architecture, Mérida, Mexico

Holcim Awards Bronze Pedagogically-aligned school, San Andrés Payuca, MexicoAuthor: Román Jesús Cordero Tovar, PLUG architecture, Mérida, Mexico

Acknowledgement prizeVertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, ColombiaAuthors: Daniel Bermúdez Samper, Daniel Bermúdez Arquitecto, Bogota, Colombia; Juan Herreros, Estudio Herreros, Madrid, Spain

Acknowledgement prizeCommunity center for water harvesting and agriculture, Matacos, ArgentinaMain authors: Joaquin Trillo, Red Comunidades Rurales, Tilcara, Argentina; Damian Ariel Fernandez, Red Comuni-dades Rurales, Tilcara, Argentina

Acknowledgement prizeSite-responsive school, Jacmel, HaitiAuthors: Maciej Siuda, Maciej Siuda architect; Łukasz Piasta; Marta Niedbalec; Katarzyna Dąbkowska; Kamil Rusinek; Jerzy Mazurkiewicz, all Wroclaw and Warsaw, Poland

Acknowledgement prizeUniversity campus for community regeneration, Acatitlán, MexicoMain author: Oscar Hagerman, Universidad del Medio Ambiente, Mexico City, Mexico

Main category Holcim Awards 2014 Latin America

Acknowledgement prizeRestoring an urban historical center, Quito, EcuadorAuthors: David Barragán, Pascual Gangotena, Esteban Benavides, Al Borde Arquitectos, Quito, Ecuador

Cheerful return to the hotel following the

Awards ceremony.

Aníbal Gaviria (right), Mayor of Medellín, with

Rolf Soiron, Chairman of the Holcim Foundation.

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

10

An impressive place

Ceremony for Africa Middle East in Beirut, Lebanon

The regional Holcim Awards ceremony for the region of Africa Middle East was held in a city that is being recreated in many ways – in the melting pot of Beirut, a place predestined for sustainable construction projects. The prizes were presented before an audience of some 200 guests in the West Hall of the American University of Beirut (pictured above); the famous campus is part of the green lung of this thriving city of over two million people. The following day took the guests to Byblos, arguably the world’s oldest continuously inhabit-ed city, and thus through 7,000 years of history. On a second tour, the impressed participants saw that downtown Beirut is truly a vital and constantly evolving organism (below right).

The winners of the Holcim Awards for Africa Middle East (from left): Brook Haileselassie, Dirk Donath

and Asgedom Berhe (Bronze); Zeynep Öktem and Onat Öktem (Gold); Raëd Abillama, Youssef Abillama,

Yasmina Khalifé and Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine (Silver).

Four “Next Generation” prizes for teams from

Lebanon, Morocco and South Africa.

Holcim Awards media conferences enable the

winners to explain their projects to a broad

audience.

…and to see and feel it.

Ceremony atmosphere at the West Hall of the

American University of Beirut.

Holcim Awards Gold Green building showcase and enterprise hub, Ankara, TurkeyAuthors: Onat Öktem, Zeynep Öktem, ONZ Architects, Ankara, Turkey

Holcim Awards Silver Urban pine forest rehabilitation, Beirut, LebanonMain author: Raëd Abillama, Raëd Abillama Architects, Lebanon

Holcim Awards Bronze Low-cost modular housing scheme, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaMain author: Dirk Donath, Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany

Acknowledgement prizeWomen’s center and playground, Beit Iksa, Palestine. Main authors: Shatha Safi, Riwaq – center for architectural conservation, Ramallah, Palestine; Yara Sharif, NG Architects and Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), London, UK

Acknowledgement prizeCommunity building designed for urban flooding, Port Harcourt, NigeriaMain author: Kunlé Adeyemi, NLÉ, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Acknowledgement prizeCommunity farming and market hub, Kigali, RwandaMain author: Pamela Larocca, Urban Future organization / kaudesign studio, Milan, Italy

Main category Holcim Awards 2014 Africa Middle East

Acknowledgement prizeSocially-integrated office building with sustainable façade, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Authors: Ken De Cooman and Wes Degreef, BC architects, Brussels, Belgium; Adeyabeba Hailemariam, ABBA architects, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Acknowledgement prizeHealth center and school in refugee camp, Bassikounou, MauretaniaMain author: Attila Szabadics, ArchSus Group, Pécs, Hungary

Byblos: 7,000 years of history in theory…

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

12

Celebration of smiles

Ceremony for Asia Pacific in Jakarta, Indonesia

The Holcim Awards ceremony for the Asia Pacific region in Jakarta formed the conclusion of the 2014 event series, and was one of its highlights. Nowhere else were so many guests gathered – namely 400 – and nowhere else were so many prizes awarded – a total of 13. Indonesian hospitality made for a very warmhearted ambience on the stage and during the dinner, at Djakarta Theatre (pictured above), and through-out the remainder of the program. From the very beginning a friendly smile was the most pertinent symbol of this special event which included a selection of tours to sustainable buildings in the city and to educational and manufacturing sites on its out-skirts.

The winners of the Holcim Awards for Asia Pacific (from left): Ganga Ratnayake and Milinda Pathiraja

(Bronze), Chak Cherdsatirkul, Singh Intrachooto (Gold), Christopher Gish (Silver), Jariyawadee

Lekawatana, Felix Baroux (Gold).

Smiles, dances and music: The guests were taught to play the “Anklung” (left) and ushered into the ceremony location by traditional Indonesian dancers.

Welcome to Jakarta!

Excursions to examples of sustainable construc-

tion as well as to ATMI vocational training

center…

Music and karaoke by Holcim Indonesia: a team

of employees entertained at the farewell dinner.

…the Conwood production plant and other sites

of interest in the vicinity of Jakarta.

“Next Generation” winning teams from Bangla-

desh, China, France, Indonesia and Singapore.

Holcim Awards Gold Bird sanctuary, Chiang Mai, ThailandMain authors: Jariyawadee Lekawatana, Architectkidd, Bangkok, Thailand; Singh Intrachooto, Kasetsart University, Bang-kok, Thailand; Chak Cherdsatirkul, Kaomai Lanna Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Holcim Awards Silver Locally-adapted orphanage and library, Kathmandu, Nepal Authors: Hilary Sample, Michael Meredith, MOS Architects, New York, USA

Holcim Awards Bronze Community library and social recuperation, Ambepussa, Sri LankaMain author: Milinda Pathiraja, Robust Architecture Workshop, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Acknowledgement prizePalm tree branches for coastal protection, Tarawa Atoll, KiribatiMain author: Maj Plemenitas, LINK-scale, London, United Kingdom

Acknowledgement prizeCommunity medical center and school, Tatiba Baraibura, Jharkhand, IndiaMain author: Madhusudhan Rao Chalasani, MADE, Hyderabad, India

Acknowledgement prizeStakeholder participation for urban up-grading, Jakarta, IndonesiaMain author: Tomohiko Amemiya, UNITYDESIGN, Tokyo, Japan

Main category Holcim Awards 2014 Asia Pacific

Acknowledgement prizeSustainable research center featuring traditional woodworking methods, Kyoto, JapanMain authors: Benoît Jacquet, EFEO, Kyoto, Japan; Manuel Tardits, Mikan, Yokohama, Japan

Acknowledgement prizeUrban water transport system, Bangkok, ThailandMain author: Santi Sombatwichatorn, D I Designs, Bangkok, Thailand

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

14

Creative genius

Holcim Awards crisscross the world: The prizes that sparkle in the spotlight at the regional ceremonies are ulti-mately taken by the winners back to their home countries. But the valued trophies begin their journey well in advance of the ceremonies: in a design studio near Zurich in Switzerland: in the realm of graphic designer Ernst Schadegg.

Almost a Holcim museumHis friends know him as Rüebli. Ernst Schadegg received this nickname when he was a boy scout – “rüebli” means “carrot” in Swiss-German and refers to his (formerly) red hair. He goes by an original name and he is creative by nature, and one senses this immediately in his graphic studio: Sketches and design books are stacked high, logos and symbols are displayed everywhere, pencils are always within reach, the essence of art and ideas is unmistakable. And something else is obvious: the strong presence of Holcim. Here is a coffee cup bearing the Holcim logo, there a toy truck, likewise brand-ed. Presentation boards with drafts of printed matter for Holcim are propped against the wall. In the back room is even a veritable display of Holcim promotional products. Some of them probably have collectors value by now – because Ernst Schadegg has been working with Holcim for a long time.

Graphic designer for the GroupIt all began when “Holderbank,” as Holcim was formerly called, sought a new logo and announced a design competition for it in 1987. Schadegg and his studio took part – and won. The inventive Zurich talent soon became the preeminent graphic

In whatever city on whatever continent they take place: The Holcim Awards ceremoniesall have the same image. This image carries the stamp of Ernst Schadegg. He created nearly everything that makes up the physical identity of the Holcim Foundation in- cluding of course the coveted prizes that are presented at the ceremonies.

designer for the Group. He designed all annual reports until 2013. The collab-oration climaxed after the millennium change, when “Holderbank” decided to globally rebrand the company under the new name Holcim. Ernst Schadegg: “An office in the USA was commis-sioned to design the new logo. My function was merely advisory – until Thomas Schmidheiny, then Chairman of the Board of Directors, asked me to design a logo myself.”

Work printed by the millionsThomas Schmidheiny’s intervention was a stroke of good fortune – be-cause Rüebli’s proposal outshone the others. The world-famous logo with outline of the globe and cut-out next to the name Holcim is Ernst Schadegg’s work.

And it’s almost like his calling card. “Colleagues are always saying to me: ‘Yesterday I was here or there and I had to think of you – because I saw your logo!’” tells the graphic designer. “I always answer: ‘This logo shouldn’t remind you of me, but of cement and concrete!’”

Leafing through Rüebli’s workThe Holcim Foundation was estab-lished in 2003 and it was natural to involve Rüebli from the very start. All books, brochures, posters – even the magazine you are now holding in your hands – have been designed and laid out by him. The coveted prizes of the Holcim Awards also come from him. “We needed a symbol for the Foundation,” tells Rüebli, recounting the history of the creation of the Holcim Awards. “I made various proposals, none of which were com-pletely satisfactory – until I had the idea of using the golden section.”

Embodiment of the golden sectionThe golden section has been con-sidered the “ideal proportion” since antiquity. It perfectly symbolizes the purpose of the Foundation, because sustainability essentially requires a balanced proportion of ecological, social, and economic measures.

But equally important as this symbolic meaning for the graphic designer was that “the golden section is fun to apply – and one can play with it very well.” The icosahedron, today the actual symbol of the Holcim Awards, is for example a three-dimensional embodiment of the golden section: The three rectangles that form the skeleton of the polyhedron are arrayed in the renowned ratio.

From one to the nextThe other prizes that Rüebli designed for the Holcim Foundation also relate to the golden section: The “golden mean gauges” given as Acknowl-edgement prizes are an instrument to easily transfer dimensions in the ideal proportion, which defies neat calculation. For the “Next Generation” prize Rüebli drew on the Modulor: the result of Swiss architect Le Corbusier’s efforts to combine the human scale

Fou

nda

tion

s 17

15

“Foundations” is the Holcim Group internal magazine of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction and may also be distributed to external stakeholders

Editor Edward Schwarz Holcim Foundation Zurich, Switzerland

Text Marius Leutenegger Zurich, Switzerland

Photos Alain Bucher Berne, Switzerland Diego Brito São Paulo, Brazil

Layout Schadegg Grafik Zurich, Switzerland

Print Fineprint AG Stallikon, Switzerland FSC paper

Holcim Foundation for Sustainable ConstructionHagenholzstrasse 85 CH-8050 Zurich/Switzerland

Phone: +41 58 858 82 92info@holcimfoundation.orgwww.holcimfoundation.org

OnlineThis publication can be downloaded as a PDF at www.holcimfoundation.org/foundations

Typical designs of Ernst “Rüebli” Schadegg: All prizes given in the Holcim Awards

relate to the golden section. The full meaning behind the logo he designed for

Holcim and adapted for the Foundation is more than one realizes at first glance:

The red three-quarter circle stands for the outline of the world, the opening in it

symbolizes the openness of the Group. The two black lines, which with the circle

form an H for Holcim, can also be seen as pillars of a bridge. And that’s the intend-

ed role of Holcim – and also of the Holcim Foundation: being a builder of bridges

in the broadest sense.

with the golden ratio and apply this measurement system to the realm of architecture.

Years of stockTo have an ingenious idea for visual-ly-attractive prizes is one thing – but it’s another to actually produce these prizes in three dimensions. Behind every trophy handed over during a Holcim Awards ceremony is the competence of a team of profession-als supporting Rüebli. “Somebody has to cut out the metal plates of the icosahedron or the Plexiglas for the certificates, make the decorative boxes for the prizes – or cast the three differently sized concrete plinths upon which the trophies sit,” tells Schadegg.

Because even the smallest production series exceeds the number of prizes required per cycle, the components

are stored in Rüebli’s studio to be later assembled into complete trophies. The stock of concrete bases alone is enough to last for a least the next competition cycle.

Tons of prizes“I would like to know how many tons of prizes we’ve already produced,” says Rüebli. Because the graphic de-signer naturally likes to make things and to work with his hands, he has had every prize awarded in the first four cycles of the Holcim Awards in his hands several times. He personally builds customized boxes optimized to meet size and weight allowances for taking the prizes from Zurich to the ceremonies. So far, every prize has arrived at the right place at the right time – ready to be received by elated winners on stage at the next Awards ceremony.

14

submissions were entered in the 4th International Holcim Awards competition forprojectsandvisionsinsustainableconstruction.2,514ofthemwereformallycorrect and evaluated by independent juries. 62 projects were recognized with prizes and a totalof USD 1.65 million at hand-over events in five regions of the world. Which prize-winning entrieswere selected by L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui to be presented in a special issue? Find out at:www.holcimfoundation.org/aa

6,105

TheSwissbasedHolcimFoundationforSustainableConstructionis supported by Holcim Ltd and its Group companies in around70countriesonallcontinents.Holcimisoneoftheworld’slead-ing suppliers of cement and aggregates (crushed stone, gravelandsand)aswellasfurtheractivitiessuchasready-mixconcreteandasphaltincludingservices.

SponsoroftheHolcimAwardssince2003